Aug 23, 2026
Investing in Early Childhood: Impacts and Lessons Learned
If you are connected to early childhood work in Montana, you know it doesn’t fit neatly into a spreadsheet or a tidy set of outcomes. The real story is one of relationships: in long meetings where people keep coming back even when the work feels slow, in the parent who finds their voice after being invited into the conversation, and in the nonprofit leader who no longer feels like they’re carrying the weight of the system alone. That’s the kind of change that’s hard to measure, but you can feel it when you’re in the room.
We recently commissioned an independent evaluation of the community-led early childhood work we supported across Western Montana from 2018 to 2024. The evaluation, “Investing in Early Childhood: Impacts and Lessons from Headwaters Foundation’s Work with Montana Communities,” looked at how local early childhood collaboratives and statewide partners worked together to strengthen early childhood systems, what changed along the way, and what helped or hindered progress.
The report captures strategies and outcomes while also exploring the human side of this work: how parents, caregivers, Tribal partners, service providers, educators, and advocates came together to ask big questions about what families need and how to build something better together. Over time, that collective effort began to shift relationships, coordination, and how local priorities showed up in broader conversations about early childhood in the state. It began with relationships, which made everything else possible.
What this taught us about systems change
This work underscored the importance of long-term, flexible investments, particularly in rural communities where distance, limited staffing, and lack of infrastructure create real barriers to coordination. While the level of investment over these six years was historically significant for Montana, it also offers a reminder that meaningful systems change does not require infinite resources so much as sustained commitment, patience, and a willingness to stay in relationship over time.
As one member of the advisory group reflected during the evaluation process, when people and communities are treated as capable, they rise to the occasion. The outcomes that followed this work reflected that reality, showing what can happen when funders step back from tight control and instead give communities the time, flexibility, and trust to lead. It also reinforced something many partners already knew intuitively: that investing in people, leadership, and the human capacity for collaboration is a core part of systems change.
What looks different now
This collective effort has led to real changes. Across communities, there’s a different level of connection than there was six years ago. Early childhood collaboratives have become trusted hubs for coordination and problem-solving, parents and caregivers are more connected to one another and to local supports, and organizations that once worked in parallel are finding more reasons to work together. In some places, families now have physical spaces to gather, build relationships, and find support. In other communities, the shift has been more about how people communicate, share responsibility, and show up for one another. At the state level, early childhood is more visible than ever before, with local priorities increasingly informing policy conversations and advocacy efforts.
As the funder, we trusted communities to develop their own vision and strategies for this work. The effort was iterative by design, shaped by local context and adapted over time as relationships deepened and conditions changed. There were learning curves for our partners and us, along with moments of tension and uncertainty. But our mutual willingness to listen, adapt, and stay in relationship created space for experimentation, and for leadership and shared ownership to grow.
Why we’re sharing this now
This evaluation was an opportunity to pause and reflect together, to create a shared record of this moment in Montana’s early childhood landscape, and to surface lessons that could strengthen the work going forward. We hope that these lessons are useful to the communities that led this work, and to other funders, policymakers, and partners who are curious about what long-term, community-led systems change can look like in practice.
This reflection also comes at a moment of transition for our work. The relationships, approaches, and lessons that grew out of the Early Childhood Initiative have shaped how we think about supporting families today. What began as an investment in young children has expanded into a deeper commitment to strengthening family leadership, amplifying family voice, and supporting community-driven solutions that help families thrive. Our Family Power Fund is one way we’re putting those lessons into practice, building on what we learned through the Early Childhood Initiative while supporting families across a wider range of issues.
There’s room for you in this work
Montana families continue to navigate gaps in childcare, early learning, and support during pregnancy and early childhood, with many rural and Tribal communities facing acute challenges. At the same time, the relationships and infrastructure built over the past several years offer a strong foundation for what comes next. The work continues, shaped by the people and communities who are closest to it, and there is room for more partners across sectors and roles to be part of what comes next.
If you’re a parent, provider, or community member, there’s likely an early childhood collaborative in your area, and your voice belongs in those rooms. If you’re a policymaker, this work offers a window into what families are asking for and what coordinated, community-led support can look like in practice. And if you’re a funder, we’d love to be in conversation about what it means to invest in long-term, relationship-based systems work and what trust-based approaches can make possible, even in times of uncertainty.